The Houston Texans are in a favorable situation at this point in time, and I feel that not matter who they take in Aprilís upcoming NFL Draft the success of the team is going to heavily depend on how well the coaching staff does in developing their young talent.

I personally feel that David Carr has not been put in a position to be successful in terms of providing adequate protection in the pocket. I also feel that Domanick Davis is a tremendous back with excellent vision and when heís healthy he can definitely get the job done. However having said that it seems that every year that he has been in the league he has been out several games due to injury and getting another back who can shoulder the load is not a bad idea.

I can imagine the Texans developing a running back by committee in which they have fresh legs out on the field at all times, much like the Denver Broncos. Having said that the man to get the job done could be the Broncoís offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak. He did wonders to Jake Plummerís game and I think he could do the same to Carrís.

Since we will probably use the first selection on Bush, the next draft choices should be on the offensive line. If I had my way I would trade out of the first pick and take the best left tackle available, but it would be almost impossible to sell that to the fans of Houston and sure he would be greeted with draft day boos.

I also think the defensive line is set, if and when the Texans switch to the 4-3 defense. They can have Seth Payne and Robaire Smith as the two interior linemen while Gary Walker and Travis Johnson provide pressure from the defensive end positions.

One final thought, everyone saw that outstanding performance of Vincent Young in the Rose Bowl and I must say that he is an unbelievable athlete, but that still does not change the fact that the Texans donít need or want another quarterback.

MorKnolle

01-08-2006, 09:58 PM

I agree that Vince is a great athlete and that we don't need another QB. I also agree with trading down for an OLine, and if Kubiak comes here I think we will end up trading down for OLinemen and/or defense (I posted a history of Denver's draft picks the last several years since Shanahan/Kubiak took over in a different thread, and they never took a QB or RB in the 1st round and always looked for WR/OL/defense. There are no WRs worthy of a high 1st-round pick and OL and defense are major weaknesses so I see him trading down and looking for those). However, our team is not set for a 4-3 defense. In a 3-4, you want big DLinemen across your line to provide a strong push and occupy blockers so your LBs can rush thru the gaps to pressure the QB (the system we currently have and thus why we have a bunch of 300+ lb. DLinemen). In a 4-3, the two DTs somewhat take this function, while the two DEs are supposed to be much quicker and provide the speed rush around the outside and put pressure on QBs, and none of our current DLinemen can do this. Gary Walker played a 4-3 defensive end about 8 years ago but is no longer capable of that, and Travis Johnson is not especially fast and definitely not suited for 4-3 DE, not to mention I've heard that in addition to being pretty slow since he's big, that he's pretty weak and is quite lazy, so he definitely does not fit as our primary pass rusher at DE. Having that DLine would make it very difficult for opposing teams to run up the middle on us, but we'd provide absolutely no pass rush. Jason Babin and Antwan Peek both played DE in college, Babin could move back down there as is and Peek could move back down if he gained 15 lbs. or so, but if we switch to a 4-3 we really need to look for a DE somewhere in the offseason (John Abraham of the Jets in free agency or maybe Mario Williams in the draft).

texplayer2

01-08-2006, 10:08 PM

Jason Babin and Antwan Peek both played DE in college, Babin could move back down there as is and Peek could move back down if he gained 15 lbs. or so, but if we switch to a 4-3 we really need to look for a DE somewhere in the offseason (John Abraham of the Jets in free agency or maybe Mario Williams in the draft).

I think picking up some defensive leadership through free agancy is a good idea. We need someone to give them direction, they looked lost all season.